Status of Astrology
In the early 2000s, under the Bharatiya Janata Party led government in India, astrology became a topic of political contention between the religious right and academic establishment, comparable to the "Creation science" debate in US education.
The University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government decided to introduce "Jyotir Vigyan" (i.e. jyotir vijñāna) or "Vedic astrology" as a discipline of study in Indian universities, backed up by a decision by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, despite widespread protests from the scientific community in India and Indian scientists working abroad. In September of the same year, the Supreme Court of India issued a notice to the Ministry of Human Resource Development in reaction to a petition, stating that the introduction of astrology to university curricula is "a giant leap backwards, undermining whatever scientific credibility the country has achieved so far".
In 2004, the Supreme Court dismissed a further petition, judging that the teaching of astrology does not qualify as promotion of religion. In February 2011, the Bombay High Court reaffirmed astrology's standing in India when it dismissed a case which had challenged it status as a science.
Read more about this topic: Hindu Astrology, Modern India
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